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When Glass Meets Minimalism: Edward James and His Art Deco Glass Lamps

This blog comes to us from Rose Zhou, Sujin Jung, and Rick Li, MA Conservation Studies students at West Dean College on the south coast of England. Rose, Sujin, and Rick have been interning with The Corning Museum of Glass for the last two months, working virtually with our Conservation Department to learn about glass conservation and what it means to be a conservator in a museum setting. For this post, they have applied that knowledge to examine objects in the college’s collection.

The West Dean College students, (L to R) Rick Li, Rose Zhou, and Sujin Jung, in the Old Library at West Dean.

The global pandemic has impacted a lot of people’s study, work, and life. For us, three conservation students from West Dean College in the UK, our work placements at external conservation labs were interrupted. This is when our tutor reached out to the Conservation Department of The Corning Museum of Glass, who kindly offered us a five-week online work placement from the other side of the Atlantic Ocean!

During these five weeks, Astrid van Giffen, associate conservator, and Lianne Uesato, assistant conservator, from Corning’s Conservation Department customised a brief but fantastic journey into the glass world for us through a series of lectures and demonstrations. With the help from colleagues from other departments at the Museum, we had the chance to peek into a conservator’s daily life to see beyond lab work to the collaborative teamwork among departments. All of these are extremely valuable experiences for us to get a feel for working in a museum.

Scanning Pilchuck: 50 Years and 70,000 Photos!

I doubt there is anyone in the glass community who is unfamiliar with Pilchuck Glass School located outside of Seattle, Washington. Founded by Dale Chihuly and patrons Anne and John Hauberg, its rise from experimental workshop to international glass center is a modern-day fairytale with one small twist—in this version, Cinderella makes her own glass slippers.

2021 will mark Pilchuck’s 50th anniversary and it has partnered with the Rakow Research Library to digitize over 70,000 images from Pilchuck’s archives. For the better part of two years (less the seven months spent in lockdown), that project has been mine. I am Ann Cady, digitization assistant at the Rakow and it is my responsibility to spin this analog straw into digital gold.

To the rest of the world, Pilchuck looks something like this: rolling hills, smiling artists, blazing gloryholes, and more than a few familiar faces.

Iconic image of Pilchuck in its first few years.

The Corning Museum of Glass has lost another great in Dr. Robert H. Brill who died in Corning on April 7. We offer our sincere condolences to his family and loved ones.

Dr. Brill, who served as the Museum’s director from 1972-1975 and led the Museum’s recovery in the wake of the 1972 flood, spent more than 50 years as a dedicated scholar of scientific research, the academic field, his professional friends and colleagues, the Museum, and the ceaselessly fascinating material of glass, whose many secrets he meticulously unlocked.

Dr. Brill joined the Museum’s staff in 1960 as a research scientist having previously earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Upsala College and completed his Ph.D. in physical chemistry at Rutgers University in 1954. For a brief time, he returned to Upsala to teach chemistry.

Forgotten Pasts: Researching Native American Obsidian Objects in the Collection of The Corning Museum of Glass

Museums don’t know everything about the objects in their collections. As Curator of Ancient Glass at The Corning Museum of Glass, one of my responsibilities is to research the objects in our ancient glass collection and ensure we have accurate and current information about them.

Display of Native American obsidian objects in the Study Gallery, Summer 2020.

In summer 2020, I began to study the two dozen or so pieces in our collection that are made of obsidian, a naturally occurring volcanic glass, which were attributed to North American origins. Some of our obsidian pieces were displayed in the Glass in Nature case, with the naturally occurring glasses, while others were in the Study Gallery, with objects from the ancient Mediterranean. We didn’t have good labels or information in either gallery space.

New Glass Review 43: An Outside Perspective on the Best of Contemporary Glass

Get excited and check the mail, because New Glass Review returns this month for its 43rd issue.

An annual exhibition-in-print, New Glass Review features 100 of the most timely, innovative projects in glass produced during the year. Artworks include sculptures, vessels, installations, and other works in glass by emerging and established artists.

A flagship publication of The Corning Museum of Glass since 1980, New Glass Review is a cyclical reintroduction into the world of contemporary glass and the artists who inhabit it; artists who continually push the boundaries of the material and the limits of their expression.

Following an open call for submissions that receives hundreds of entries every year from countries across the world, New Glass Review is curated by the Museum’s curator of postwar and contemporary glass and a changing panel of guest curators. While the search for the Museum’s next contemporary curator was underway this past summer, Samantha De Tillio was invited to lead the selection process. De Tillo was joined by Davin K. Ebanks, Kim Harty, and Kimberly Thomas.

Amy Schwartz & William Gudenrath Honored with 2023 James Renwick Alliance for Craft Award

The Studio’s Amy Schwartz and William (Bill) Gudenrath were honored on Saturday, May 6 in Washington DC with the James Renwick Alliance for Craft (JRA) Distinguished Craft Educator Award for excellence and innovation in education. The biennial award was celebrated at the JRA Spring Craft Weekend with a Symposium, Gala, and Awards Brunch. Recognized for their influence on future artists and significant contributions to American education in the craft field, Amy and Bill’s selection as honorees was the first time in the ceremony’s 20-year history that both makers and educators were honored at the same time.

William (Bill) Gudenrath and Amy Schwartz with their award at the Smithsonian Museum, Washington DC, May 6, 2023. Photo courtesy of the James Renwick Alliance.

Amy and Bill are the latest on a long list of distinguished honorees—the JRA Award has recognized some of the most influential craft artists in American history. This year, the other nominees included ceramic artist, social activist, and spoken word poet Roberto Lugo (the youngest artist to ever receive the Master of the Medium award); furniture maker Kristina Madsen; and curator, quilter, author, art historian, and aerospace engineer Carolyn Mazloomi.

CMoG Named One of the “7 Glass Wonders of the World”

Capping a truly momentous year for glass, The Corning Museum of Glass has achieved a new distinction: being named one of the “7 Glass Wonders of the World.”

The announcement was made during the closing festivities of the United Nations International Year of Glass (IYOG) 2022. The year officially concluded with a Conference and Ceremony at the University of Tokyo, Japan, on December 8-9, which was attended by our very own President and Executive Director Karol Wight. This event was followed by an official debriefing held at the United Nations headquarters in New York City on December 14.

Lino Tagliapietra in the Museum’s Amphitheater Hot Shop, May 13, 2022.

Lino Tagliapietra may be retiring, but not before one final visit to The Corning Museum of Glass. Last weekend was a monumental one for Lino, the glassblowers and staff at the Museum, and all the guests who filled the Amphitheater Hot Shop to see the Maestro at work during what will be his final performance in Corning.

To celebrate Lino’s enduring legacy, we asked those lucky enough to know and work with him, to describe the impact he has made on the glass world. To no surprise, the response was fervent and unanimous: Lino’s impact is, and will always be, extraordinary!